“There were bad vibes with local Oslo bands saying it was crap”: how Dimmu Borgir’s controversial symphonic classic Enthrone Darkness Triumphant dragged black metal out of the shadows

Dimmu Borgir in 1997.

Alongside Cradle Of Filth, Norway’s Dimmu Borgir helped push black metal into a bold new era. Their third album, 1997’s Enthrone Darkness Triumphant, hitched the genre’s feral snarl to a dramatic new approach, helping draw up the blueprint for symphonic black metal. In 2008, frontman Shagrath and guitarist Silenoz looked back on the making of that landmark record.

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